1. A man with principle. A person who speaks with unabashed candor and conviction. One who speaks their mind for saying what needs to be despite a possible backlash from the media.
2. A no-frills law enforcement officer who does his
job.
Origin. Named for Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a
popular sheriff in Pima County, located in Southern Arizona. With a law enforcement career spanning over 50 years, Dupnik has won reelection by far, greater margins than his Maricopa County counterpart, Joe Arpaio in the past several elections.
Dupnik became the
target of
tea party activists and received death threats for speaking out against Arizona's controversial "SB 1070"
bill calling it "unnecessary" and "racist."
Dupnik's department have arrested more illegal immigrants - and turned them over to the border patrol, than any other law enforcement agency in the state.
While speaking to the media after a Jan. 8,
2011 shooting that targeted his friend, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Dupnik again became a
target of
Right Wing media for saying, "There's reason to believe that this individual may have a mental issue. And I think
people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol."
Despite the passion-based, knee-jerk attacks from the Far Right, Dupnik has been lauded as a hero in other circles for exercising his right to free speech in alluding to the reasons behind the growing polarization that has pervaded diplomatic discourse in America.
When Johnny the
factory worker stood up for his
co-workers and spoke candidly to upper management about why morale was so low on the assembly
line, his peers lauded him for being a, "dupnik," for stepping up and saying what needed to be said but others feared to say.
